OCR Text |
Show yields will be 5 and 10 percent, respectively, above the average for the period 1945-^9. These per- centage increases are equivalent to a 33- and a 40-percent increase above the average for the pre- war period 1935-39. The other, designated as a "substantial increase," assumes that in 1960 and 1975 yields will be 10 and 18 percent above the average for the period 1945-49, or 40 and 50 percent, respectively, above the period 1935-39. On the basis of these estimates, it appears that the increased productivity of existing agricultural acreage, if added to the production available from new lands brought in by irrigation, drainage, flood control, and clearing, is likely to meet the Nation's expanding requirements over the next 25 years by a rather narrow margin. Obviously, the program for meeting those requirements must include the combined efforts of those responsible for reclamation in its various forms and those responsible for improved farming practices. The increase in the productivity of existing farm land, through improved farm practices, has been shown by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis to be a bankable transaction in its area. The results which have been achieved in the Eighth Federal Reserve District, through the co- operation which it has established between local bankers and farmers, provide an example of what can be achieved in the humid regions. In general these results show that while new invest- ment of as much as $60 per acre may be required to bring about the increased production on a sustained-yield basis, the investment more than pays for itself over a period of years. The bank's program fits in completely with the soil conservation program and involves water re- sources in many of its features. Speaking gener- ally, it calls for soil conservation and improve- ment loans carefully related as to advances, terms, and repayments to good farm plans. It provides the capital needed for soil conservation practices such as construction of grass waterways, terraces, outlet structures, and new fences; for rebuilding soil productivity through the addition of lime and mineral fertilizers; to develop timber and perma- nent pasture on lands not suited to cultivation; to buy seeds for soil-building crops for cover and green manure; and for more complete mechani- zation and further improvement in livestock and crop production. The advances required to make such increased production possible on individual farms may run, over a period of 8 years, into the tens of thousands of dollars. This suggests how sensitive such a program will be to the country's general agricultural policy insofar as it affects the sta- bility of farm markets and prices. But in terms of the long-range future of the Nation's expand- ing population, the development of such a pro- gram as that sponsored by the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank is of major importance. In general, this analysis has shown that recla- mation of new land through irrigation, flood control, drainage, and clearing, and improve- ment in the use of existing farm lands, must move forward together if the future needs of the Nation are to be met. It tends to controvert the contention that reclamation of new lands should be curtailed because of surpluses in cer- tain agricultural commodities. Supplemental Irrigation.-Any attempt to ap- praise the possibilities of increased productivity per acre of existing farm lands must take into account the development of supplemental irri- gation in humid regions. Between 1940 and 1945, the eastern acreage so irrigated increased by about 370,000, or about 50 percent. About two-thirds of the increase occurred in the rice areas of Arkansas and Louisiana. But the rate of increase was faster in connection with other crops. Thus the 1945 farm census shows a 5-year increase from 2,846 to 12,153 in the acreage re- ceiving supplemental irrigation in New England; from 17,260 to 30,792 in the Middle Atlantic States; and from 128,037 to 224,446 acres in the South Atlantic States. States in these regions in which there have been large increases include Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Penn- sylvania, and Florida. Such irrigation in the East consists of the arti- ficial watering of crops to supplement the rains which are normally depended on for water. It represents insurance against damage to crops as a result of droughts occurring in the growing 164 |